Thursday, 16 January 2014

Article: A Way Out Of PDP’s Extinction Path

Bamanga Tukur; former PDP Chairman

By Emeka Umeagbalasi

The truth is that not even the resignation of Alhaji Bamanger Tukur as
the national chairman of the PDP will make the party stronger and formidable.
What is killing the party is also what is stunting the growth of other
political parties in Nigeria and a number of factors are responsible or
affixed. One of the strongest political parties in the world is the Communist
Party of China founded in 1948 by Comrade Mao Tseng Tung. Its present chairman
just left Nigeria few days ago on state visit. The strongest premises upon
which political parties are built are “ideology” and “sound ethical code”.
These the PDP do not have till date. Another problem militating against the
growth of political parties in Nigeria is insufficient legal instrument to
moderate the affairs and conducts of the political parties and their members.
Other militating factors are lack of sound internal democracy mechanisms, undue
interference by courts and promotion of parochial, pecuniary and
ethno-religious interests above the collectivist party interests as well as
corruption.

The PDP crisis must be seen beyond recent or ongoing defection of some of
its key elected members to the central opposition party called APC. The
defection is purely predicated on warped political calculations premised on
2015 polls especially the presidential poll. It is orchestrated by those who
want to return the country to “burn to rule” era and those who want media
immunity to shield themselves from their atrocious acts and past in public
governance as well as those who want to be “turn coat”, a sort of “old wine in
new bottle”.

In the Chinese Communist Party, internal discipline premised on strong
ethical code, reigns supreme. If any member, be he or she elected or appointed
for public or party services, is found to have violated the party’s code or
engaged in fraudulent act, he or she is sanctioned ethically and further handed
over to police for criminal investigation and prosecution. In this
circumstance, courts have limited space of interference especially on the party’s
ethical matters. This process is almost absent in the PDP and other political
parties in the country. The Communist Party under reference also has strong
ideology, which every incoming member must be made to be aware of before
joining.

There is no ideology in PDP, which makes it not only an all comers
affair, but also the party for the good, the bad and the ugly. Reckless court
interference also kills the growth of political parties in Nigeria including
the PDP. In PDP, likewise other parties, there is no difference between
sanction over ethical misconduct and criminal law breaking and the referral to
criminal law investigative agencies against any party member found engaging in
office, property or human crimes or crimes against person, is hardly made.
There is also a big lacuna in the Nigerian Judiciary in matters of civil law
and criminal law court proceedings and prosecutions, as in professionalization.
In organized climes, there are criminal high courts and civil high courts,
criminal appeal courts and civil appeal courts, vice versa. In some cases,
court divisions are sub-divided to accommodate the arrangement, for the purpose
of professionalization. Other than Lagos State, to an extent, this is totally
absent in Nigeria, which leaves the country with the culture of “judicial
mercantilism and subsistence”.

For strong and vibrant PDP, likewise other political parties in Nigeria
to emerge, the stunting factors foregoing must be addressed. The PDP must be
revolutionalized along strong ideological and ethical lines. The legal system
under its midwifery political parties operate in Nigeria including the
“constitutions” of the political parties as well as INEC’s Establishment Act
and Electoral Act must be reworked. As for the 2015 general polls, for PDP to
find its feet again, it must push for the constitutionality of six geopolitical
zonal rotational presidency and have it zoned to the most favoured and
presidentially cheated zone.

This singular important act has the capacity of turning the PDP around positively
and swallows the warped calculations of its rivals especially the APC’s
perceived journey to return Nigeria to “born to rule” presidency. On public
governance, as the central ruling party, the PDP must use the remaining months
left, to give Nigerians real dividends of democracy such as commencement of the
Second Niger Bridge, steady power supply with “pay as you consume” billing
system, prudent budgets with huge capital expenditures and less recurrent
expenditures, minimal loan borrowings and huge repayment policies, security and
safety of Nigeria and Nigerians and creation of investment friendly
environments as well as fight against corruption. Sound internal and external
democracy culture must be restored and acculturated in the Party.

(Umeagbalasi is the Board Chairman of International Society for
Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, 41, Miss Elems Street, Fegge, Onitsha,
Nigeria)